It fits....

[Desert_Captain]

For the last 7 years we have made towing a motorcycle behind our 24' class C a huge part of our RV experience. We head out seeking not only great camping but the finest motorcycle roads the west has to offer. We set up in a nice CG and roll out every morning exploring, often one of the many national Parks {did Yellowstone and Grand Teton last June} and trust me, the best way to see any NP is from the back of a bike but I digress.

About a month ago I made the switch from my Indian Springfield to a Can Am Spyder. My bride and I are 70 and 69 years old and pushing an 875# motorcycle was likely to become problematic at some point so reluctantly we moved to the stability and comfort of three wheels. My research included a lot of measuring to be sure our new ride would fit in our 6 X 10' cargo trailer and it was going to be close.

I moved the cable anchors on the load ramp as far outboard as possible buying me another 2" and that seems to have made all the difference. With winter weather keeping the Spyder garage bound today was my first opportunity to verify it would fit in the cargo trailer and happily it does... just barely. I have about 1" of clearance getting past the cables and after that it's all good. The cargo trailer keeps the Spyder out of the weather as well as out of the view of the bad guys, nice to have a custom garage that follows the coach like a faithful puppy. The Spyder weighs 998# and the trailer is 1200# keeping us well under the GVWR of 2,990.

Now we can look forward to continuing our formerly 2 wheel/now 3 wheel adventures, returning to the all of the comforts of home in our coach after every ride.







:B

[Desert_Captain]

Op here again with an update...

My new {to me} Can Am Spyder has been a hoot to ride but was a bit twitchy especially on the two lane twisties here in the mountains. A little research online indicated that I was a candidate for a Laser Alignment as they come from the factory with a pretty basic set up. About ten days ago I made an appointment at Ride Now Surprise to get the alignment this morning. They booked me for 0900 so I could ride in and wait for it, takes about an hour.

Well ten days ago the forecast was for a morning low in 40's and that posed no problem, I would just bundle up and take full advantage of the heated grips. It is 107 miles from Payson to Surprise but as I was very happy with the deal they made me I committed to coming back to them for service despite there being a couple of closer dealerships. By yesterday afternoon the forecast had changed radically and not in a good way...

They were calling for a low in the upper 20's and the thought of riding in that just was not an option. So yesterday afternoon I hooked up my Ridgeline to the cargo trailer and loaded the Can Am. At 0615 this morning it was 24 degrees and we just rolled out of the driveway, by 830 we were unloading at the dealership after a nice toasty cruise down off the mountain.

Just got home a couple of hours ago, off loaded the Spyder and took it for a test ride... WOW! the difference was day and night. The bike is so steady with way more improvement than I ever had hoped for. The bill was $158 which I was happy to pay.

The point being if you are considering adding a utility trailer to your fleet take a look at cargo trailers and all that they bring to the trailering equation. I find so many ways to use it and use it often. It continues to provide me with options that other trailers simply could not.

Works for me!

:B

[bobndot]

My friend did that conversion last year. It took months and $17k to convert it. It does not handle as well as a spyder , you have to take it slower with the duals on the rear.

[IAMICHABOD]

Bordercollie wrote:
My wife has put her foot down, won't allow me to ride my '48 Indian Chief. I still have a Honda Trail 90 that I can carry on a rear rack. Just turned 82.

My Highschool buddy had the same problem but found a way around it now they both enjoy riding.

Their solution

[rjstractor]

Bordercollie wrote:
My wife has put her foot down, won't allow me to ride my '48 Indian Chief. I still have a Honda Trail 90 that I can carry on a rear rack. Just turned 82.

More power to you, my parents stopped riding their CT110s when they were in their early 60s and switched to quads. The 110s sat for many years, and I finally got them running. They were in perfect condition and sold for considerably more than what they cost new in 1984. I'll be happy if I'm still upright at 82, and being able to ride my Harley would be a huge bonus!

[JohninSD]

Bordercollie wrote:
My wife has put her foot down, won't allow me to ride my '48 Indian Chief. I still have a Honda Trail 90 that I can carry on a rear rack. Just turned 82.

Is it too late to find a different wife? Or try bachelorhood?

[bobndot]

This company does a front wheel conversion just like spyder. IMO, rear wheel conversions are less safe.

Tilting Motor Works TRiO kit includes everything you need to convert your Indian. Once equipped with a TRiO™ your iconic Indian will still handle exactly like the classic bike it is, but now with added traction, enhanced stability and better cornering. In addition, two front wheels means better braking and more speed through the curves.

[Bordercollie]

My wife has put her foot down, won't allow me to ride my '48 Indian Chief. I still have a Honda Trail 90 that I can carry on a rear rack. Just turned 82.

[ron_dittmer]

My first bike was a 1983 Honda CX650 (bought used in 1984)
My second bike was a 1984 Honda Magna V65 (bought in 2000)
At age 63, I doubt I would get back into biking, but such a trike (with 2 front tires) would make the most sense at such a time in life.

Thank You Desert Captain for sharing your new experience. I look forward to reading more.

[bobndot]

Tnx for sharing DC , looks great, best of luck. Our full dress BMW was the same color blue, brought back memories, thats how we spent our honeymoon from Maine to the Florida Keys. After 125,000 miles and 15 years, we sold it and bought 6 snowmobiles.
When we sell our snowmobiles we will keep our 8.5 x 12 hybrid ramped SnoPro trailer to use with a new Spyder.
We are the same age and every time we are alone snowmobiling 20-30 miles out in the woods dodging Moose , we ask ourselves “do you think this is really a good idea at our age at minus 10F “ ? Time for a Spyder is getting very close. I will keep our personal locator beacon, the Spyder will find its way to areas without cell service, trust me. Again, tnx for sharing.

[Lwiddis]

Posting, pictures and comments are very interesting to this RVer with no motorcycle experience.

[Desert_Captain]

Vw triker wrote:
What has been your experience riding on three compared to two wheels

Keep in mind I have only logged 500 miles over the last couple of months but...

No two machines could be much more different than my Indian Springfield and the Can Am Spyder. The Indian weighed 875# but was arguably the best handling bagger Indian or a anyone else for that matter ever built. It was smooth and powerful, a virtual "Torque monster" that you could short shift all day long and still scoot but... it was getting to a lot to handle and the stability of the Spyder is awesome. Having reverse is a lot more convenient than you might think and that is another feature that I love on the Spyder.

The Spyder is even smoother with plenty of power and much quieter. The stability of the Spyder is great but the steering is very sensitive and takes a little getting used to. The creature comforts of both are fairly even with air suspension but the Spyder is adjustable on the fly. The heated grips for both driver and passenger on the Can Am are awesome and though I never use it the audio system on the Can Am is very nice.

Two very significant differences on the Can Am are the auto transmission with a paddle shifter. You manually upshift but downshifting can be fully automatic or you can manually downshift anytime you feel the need and the auto trans is buttery smooth up or down shifting. The other is the electric adjust on the fly windshield which I did not think I would use much but it gets used on all out every ride depending on conditions. Also the Can AM as noted has a ton of storage and my bride finds the Can Am even more comfortable than the Indian which she loved {we put 26,000 miles on the Indian in 2.5 years often doing 400+mile days.}

I am still early into the learning curve with the Spyder but having ridden more than 100,000 miles in the last 7.5 years on motorcycles adapting to the new ride has been nothing but fun.

:B

[Vw_triker]

What has been your experience riding on three compared to two wheels

[MDKMDK]

Nice ride, for sure. Good plans, too.

Wish we were there, instead of here.:(

[rjstractor]

Looks like a really nice way to go. I'm looking forward to seeing the sights "in the open" in a couple of years. I just bought a new Heritage Softail 114 but don't have an RV just yet. I'll need to figure out the best way to roll for me, whether it's a toy hauler TT, a Rampage lift and TT or a motorhome and small enclosed trailer like yours. And when the time comes I'll likely look for something with three wheels. I like the classic look of the Harley trikes, but I would imagine the Can-Am offers vastly better ride and performance.